Soop Theatre’s The Flying Monk – Giant Olive Theatre, London
Creators: Nathan Chapman, Sarah Hutchinson, Peter Henderson, Sian Green and Henry Oastler
Music: Mark Newton
Lyrics: Denise Baugh
Director: Vincent Adams
Reviewer: Jemma Bicknell
The Public Reviews Rating: 
The story of The Flying monk was a brave subject matter for a fairly new company to work with and on the whole Soop Theatre did well. A true story, if slightly skewed for comic purposes, and one from a rich historical period that stretches beyond what we usually learn in any detail at school. The Flying Monk covered the unusually interesting and calamitous life of Eilmer the monk, who, in the midst of events leading up to the Bayeux Tapestry of 1066, made a pair of wings and endeavoured to fly. The density of important historical events within this stretch of time meant that it occasionally did indeed feel as if we were at school; there were parts of this play where it felt like hard work, and required being fed chunks of history in dialogue, in order to push the plot along.
Henry Oastler, who played the Eilmer of this play, was a very likeable fellow, whose furrowed brow twisted into superbly perplexed expressions. Less of an astrologer as the serious history books would have him, more of a baffled ‘Mr Bean’- ideal for the slapstick comedy that ensued throughout. Some of this was delightful, such as when the monks and queen chased and hid around the cloisters with the vikings. Some of it was similar to an expected punch line that makes you groan with a tiny bit of glee, partly due, perhaps, to the tightness of the timing of the play; often impressive, yet from time to time a little forced and predictable. The beginning section was clever and informing but felt like it dragged on a bit too long. We knew where it was meant to be funny, and it was, but not enough to make us laugh out loud. The plot picked up with the entrance of the queen, played by Lucy Frederick with a fantastic French accent. She injected more humanity into the so far slightly dry narrative, and her aloof yet earnest character worked well against Eilmer’s endearingly snivelling timidity.
The overall use of physical theatre and simple props to create the illusion of perspective, height and depth was excellent in this small theatre. A particularly fine moment was when Eilmer was clambering up the ladder of the tower, followed by his frock flapping in the wind, created amusingly by an actor lying underneath him, shaking his frock vigorously. Some of the use of props was simply ingenious and very well rehearsed, such as the ropes used to depict the Greek Minotaur story, winding cleanly into various cats-cradles, framing each tableaux of the tale. Likewise, the sparing use of puppetry was skilful and unobtrusive in a similar style to ‘Avenue Q’, making you focus on the puppet for action and the puppeteer’s face for emotion.
The cast did a wonderful job of swapping between different characters in a way that wasn’t confusing at all, even when men and women traded genders. The subtle distinctions in costume helped this, as well as the vastly diverse characters adopted by each actor in their many different roles. As a cast they seemed to fit together extremely well, contrasting and complimenting each other’s style, which meant that despite a demanding theme, they made this history lesson jolly good fun.
Runs until 10th July
Tags: Denise Baugh, Fringe, Giant Olive Theatre, Henry Oastler, London, Lucy Frederick, Mark Newton, Nathan Chapman, Peter Henderson, Sarah Hutchinson, Sian Green, Soop Theatre, The Flying Monk, Vincent Adams
